LePage: Reports of my political demise 'greatly exaggerated'

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Amid political pressure and calls for his resignation, Republican Gov. Paul LePage said Tuesday that he wants to make amends with the Democratic legislator he targeted in an obscene voicemail message, but he tweeted that any reports of his "political demise are greatly exaggerated."

LePage said he still has the energy to tackle issues like wait lists for state services and solar policy, but he said if he's lost my ability to convince the Maine people that's what we need and that's the type of people we need in Augusta, you know, maybe it is the time to move on.

"Regarding rumors of resignation, to paraphrase Mark Twain: 'The reports of my political demise are greatly exaggerated,'" he wrote.

LePage, whose second and final term as governor ends in 2019, told reporters last week that his repeated mentioning of the race of drug traffickers is relevant because when you go to war, "you shoot at the enemy."

House Majority Leader Jeff McCabe, a Democrat, said that LePage has crossed a line and that he and other lawmakers may reconsider their calls for resignation if the governor agrees to seek professional help and outlines a treatment plan to lawmakers.